Archives
2003: Vol.
2, Numbers 1-12Read
past articles including:Series
on Leadership continued
Avoiding Dictatorship in a Free SocietyArt
and Politics Living
the Good LifeTeaching
Teens World
Peace in Less Than a Month?

from
the unpublished bookScience, Religion, and the Search for God: Bridging the Gapby
Richard Sidy

An
important quality to develop in the search for God, or in
the pursuit of God-consciousness, is to achieve a balanced
life and outlook. This is the basis of success.

The basis of cohesiveness, unity, and creativity is to balance
the opposite forces of nature. Every atom of nature seeks to
achieve balance between its protons and electrons. In so doing,
it unites with other atoms to create molecules and compounds.
Electricity flows when positive and negative magnetic fields
combine in equilibrium. A family is formed and grows when man
and woman unite. When this relationship is balanced, there
is love and unity, forming the foundation of creativity and
prosperity.

When an individual is balanced in emotions and mind, both sensitivity
and intelligence are developed. Each faculty is enhanced through
the influence and interaction with the other. When thought
and feeling work together, a person becomes understanding and
uses knowledge for the good of the world. Such people inspire
others.

Spirit and matter need to exert a balanced influence in people's
lives. When one is pursued to the exclusion of the other, the
resulting life is useless and even dangerous to the progress
of the individual and of society. Idealism without the ability
to act and to create is empty. Action without idealism is selfish
and purposeless. The search for God is demonstrated by purposeful
action for the improvement of life. Unless the balance of opposites
is achieved through making them work together, one can not
achieve the first step in developing
"God-consciousness."

The concept of "God" in relationship to human beings
also has a dual nature. There is the ruling, authoritarian
God, and the nurturing, loving God. There is God of the heavens
and God of the earth. There is God transcendent, above humanity
and creation, all powerful, all knowing. There is God immanent,
in individuals and in all animate and inanimate things, all-pervading
spirit, the life force in the smallest speck of matter and
in the infinite Universe.

The worship of God through the ages has reflected variations
of these sets of opposite concepts and relationships. People
create their gods to fit their purpose and self-image, to fulfill
their needs, and to fit their lifestyle. Their gods are reflections
of their level of consciousness.

Societies living close to nature and religious mystics in all
cultures have worshiped God in everything: in the plants, in
the animals, in the tiny bugs, in the earth they walked upon,
in the wind and rain, in the warmth of the sun, and in each
individual. This concept fuses both aspects of God  the
transcendent and the immanent. This reflects an intuitive or
childlike consciousness, a oneness with nature.

In societies where authority and social control were the main
values, an authoritarian God was worshiped. The image of God
was manipulated to give authority to the rulers of state. Most
autocratic rulers derive their legitimacy from "God." Wherever
power has been abused, the powerful stated that they were acting
as representatives of God and were chosen by God. Whenever
religion mixes with politics,
"God" becomes a personification of human rulers on
a grand scale, striking fear into the hearts of the subject
people.

In industrialized societies where life and human welfare are
tied to the vitality, storms, and negotiations of the market,
God has become the Businessman and Chief Executive Officer
par excellence of a corporate Universe. He can be hired, and
He provides insurance against failure or against claims of
malpractice. One meets God by appointment only, fitting the
meeting into one's busy business and social calendar.